Monday, December 24, 2007

Out of all the gifts we have received over the years, and there are many, which ones do weremember ? I grew up with parents who celebrated birthdays, Christmas with many excitinggifts for us kids. It was always a thrill to know how much care they took in picking out just the right gift that would thrill us and be cherished for quite a while. I so appreciate my parents and the "givers" they are.

The one gift that is truly the Gift above all is Christ. I realize all the gifts I have ever received as wonderful and cherished and appreciated they were, (and they were) the true Gift that I cherish more than life itself, is Christ. He has given me a life that I never knew possible. He is the true Gift, and He gives and gives and gives. When we are at our lowest, deepest darkest points, He is always there to exchange our despair with His perfect love, peace, hope.

I think back to the years that I have known Him and I realize that the gift of Christ is truly a gift that I continue to receive moment by moment day by day. I will be celebrating Him with a ll my heart, not only today but days ahead. For I know that it is more than miraculous, to know Him and to live in this realm of the evidence of things which are hoped for and things unseen, this realm of faith, where all things are possible to them that believe. We love Him because He first loved us.

Friday, December 21, 2007

"We have received . . . the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." 1 Corinthians 2:12

Reality is Redemption, not my experience of Redemption; but Redemption has no meaning for me until it speaks the language of my conscious life.(the evidence of transformation is inward , because the language of transformation is in relationship to our hearts )

When I am born again, the Spirit of God takes me right out of myself and my experiences, and identifies me with Jesus Christ.(the product of a supernatural encounter with Christ is that our lives are swallowed up and we identify with Him in all that we say, all that we do, our life become His, His expression )

If I am left with my experiences, my experiences have not been produced by Redemption. The proof that they are produced by Redemption is that I am led out of myself all the time,(yesss , what we behold is Him and we are being changed more and more into His likeness)

I no longer pay any attention to my experiences as the ground of Reality, but only to the Reality which produced the experiences. (we become deeply conscious that we are not producing anything in terms of spiritual life in us, the Son in us is the river of life that is flowing taking us whereever it would)

My experiences are not worth anything unless they keep me at the Source, Jesus Christ. (aware that it is Him in us)

If you try to dam up the Holy Spirit in you to produce subjective experiences, you will find that He will burst all bounds and take you back again to the historic Christ. Never nourish an experience which has not God as its Source and faith in God as its result. If you do, your experience is anti-Christian, no matter what visions you may have had. Is Jesus Christ Lord of your experiences, or do you try to lord it over Him? (is it Him we glorify in all things or is it self, or another)

Is any experience dearer to you than your Lord? He must be Lord over you, and you must not pay attention to any experience over which He is not Lord. There comes a time when God will make you impatient with your own experience - I do not care what I experience; I am sure of Him.(we see Him in the center of our circumstances, whatever they may be .. and from Him comes the peace and faith to stand, to believe, to hope, to endure) our faith should not be dependant on what is or isn't happening all around us)

Be ruthless with yourself if you are given to talking about the experiences you have had. Faith that is sure of itself is not faith; faith that is sure of God is the only faith there is.

Monday, December 17, 2007

wow, check out these wise words, quoted in part from Wayne Jacobsen's blog. Also the comments are well worth reading.

partial quote "Sometimes, though, we have a tendency to panic. Why? If we really understand ourselves deeply, the bottom line in all of our personalities is our deep-seated desire to be in control. This to me is the basic meaning of what the Bible calls sin. We want to have everything run smoothly in order to look good, and when it doesn’t, we feel threatened and when we are threatened we get scared (afraid) and that moves us into anger, which causes panic, anxiety and/or depression, etc. The opposite of love is control (fear). There is no fear in love, because perfect love cast out fear, writes the apostle. God is constantly at work conforming us to His image (the outward expression of an invisible reality). So that like Jesus told the disciples, “He who has seen me, has seen the Father.” So often rather then to accept what God is doing, we have been taught the ‘principles’ of how to get from God whatever you want. And we forget that if God is love. He doesn’t control us and we, in turn, cannot control Him. He is there to see us through, and bring us into a deeper awareness of who He really is, and not what we want Him to be, which of course is far better." http://www.lifestream.org/blog/

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Personality is that peculiar, incalculable thing that is meant when we speak of ourselves as distinct from everyone else. Our personality is always too big for us to grasp. An island in the sea may be but the top of a great mountain. Personality is like an island, we know nothing about the great depths underneath, consequently we cannot estimate ourselves. (comment: All we see is the surface, like a quick glance in the mirror every now and then. We think we know our true personality, what we are like, how we react or don't react, but often times others seem to know us much better than we are even capable of knowing ourselves. Thus we need to listen intently to one another, and give heed and ear to the words of others. Listening is so important, it conveys so much about our inward spiritual condition and where we are at) We begin by thinking that we can, but we come to realize that there is only one Being Who understands us, and that is our Creator. (comment: This does set us free, .. we are becoming more like Him and He knows the process necessary and the journey to get us out of ourself more and more, into a beautiful reflection of Himself)

Personality is the characteristic of the spiritual man as individuality is the characteristic of the natural man. Our Lord can never be defined in terms of individuality and independence, but only in terms of personality, "I and My Father are one." Personality merges, (comment: As we identify with him and he creates in us His heart, and pours out His Spirit, His mind, His compassion, we take upon us the clothing of Christ, day upon day. I love how he says merges ... it talks of an ongoing process that is initiated by His Spirit in us, the focus is not on self, on what self needs to do to keep this process moving along, {as we are often taught by religious folks}, but on us becoming One with Him, merging is definitely the right word, it talks about him taking us and enfolding us up into His character, His nature, His very likeness, we are taking on His likeness) This is supernatural, a completely spiritual process and you only reach your real identity when you are merged with another person.(amen how beautiful is that statement! We are incomplete without Him, but complete in Him, lack nothing, made whole, restored)When love, or the Spirit of God strikes a man, he is transformed, he no longer insists upon his separate individuality. Our Lord never spoke in terms of individuality, of a man's "elbows" or his isolated position, but in terms of personality - "that they may be one, even as We are one." If you give up your right to yourself to God, the real true nature of your personality answers to God straight away. Jesus Christ emancipates the personality, and the individuality is transfigured; the transfiguring element is love, personal devotion to Jesus. Love is the outpouring of one personality in fellowship with another personality.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Today I am feeling really frustrated ! Ever have a day or two like that? Or maybe it's just me . .. . that's ok.

Today is just one of those days that everywhere I look, it seems like I am feeling frustrated at one thing or another. In all likelihood, I am just looking in the wrong direction.

Truly I know He is always leading us beside still waters, and not only that, but He is preparing a table before us - to partake of, one that satisfies us and leaves us fully fulfilled, ...no matter what disappointment strikes up against us. The Lord of All that I love and serve is not moved nor taken off guard by any disappointment. He knows my weakness and has, beyond that, provided the continuing watchfulness of Himself over me and certainly will attend to me, and continue to show Himself strong in weakness, disappointments, failures .

I want to face disappointments (which are only momentary) with a different heart, a heart with an attitude that looks beyond disappointment, and knows that God is shaping me, and wanting to develop perseverance, faithfulness, & child-like trust. To be beyond my weakness,beyond disappointment, to more of His likeness and HIs character. Because I know I am exactly One with Him by His Spirit. I am forever loved & cherished by Him. I really want to turn my face towards Him, learn of Him in the midst of disappointments and weaknesses, ... whether they be my own, or someone else's, .. to learn of Him in the midst of all,.. that my Hope is firmly set upon Him. That I will gain Christ more, with all joy, as He wants to be known and revealed - a witness of how He cherishes us in our weakness, in our brokneness, and this, even moreso when we are disappointed and heavy burdened. ... when we feel we have fallen, slipped up a bit. ... I want to thank God for disappointments and failures, thank Him because this is always an opportunity for our hearts to rejoice firmly in Him. That I may know Him more, know His comfort, and likewise, comfort others and establish them in His faithfulness & goodness; no matter what twists and turns sneak up on us. Being ever watchful, eyes on Him, a brighter reflection of hope and understanding to someone else along the course of life.

He is One, the Only One, who doesn't disappoint. In fact He is the One who rather lifts us up in His everlasting arms, and helps us center on Him, bringing Himself into focus. How lovely He is! All else fades, disappointments and all, because these are temporal (fading) but He is the Light of the World, the pure Light that shines into every dark place, scattering the darkness and bringing peace!

Knowing Him means to me that we are never arrived, our destination is always HIm, learning of Him in the midst of our frailties, .. that we might overcome by Him. It's a continual exchange of His Life for our brokenness. It's His continuing faithfulness, gentle care and concern that makes my heart want to beat, to praise Him and whisper His name ..

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Thursday, November 29, 2007

I spent the day yesterday chatting with some pals and posting some stuff online about Jesus washing the disciples feet. I just had some thoughts to pass on this morning. What was the truth that Jesus would have us grasp of footwashing one for another?

Regarding Jesus' conversation with Peter, and then the command to also WASH one another's feet. That they were clean everywhere, except their feet. Jesus said if Peter wouldn't let Him wash his feet, ..that Peter had no part of Him "Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me." John 13:8 Why was Peter saying that, I think Peter was still responding to the idea of his day that footwashing was a humiliating experience and peers didn't do that for one another ... Peter was still thinking in terms of the established spoken and unspoken rules and traditions of his day.

What part of Jesus are we after ? We are after intimacy, we are after His heart, we are after longing for him and wanting Him in our ever thought, every song and all that we are. My thought is that we (like the disciples) are washed and cleansed by Him, as Jesus said was true, (you are already washed) but the only part that needs continual cleansing is our FEET. Why, what does our feet symbolize?

Our feet are the part of our spirituality that we need to be consciously and carefully aware of - the day to day realities and issues of life. Our intimacy with God is so wonderful yet so easily disrupted by our day to day sin. To keep following Him, sharing love with Him, we need to see how our heart is responding day to day in our interactions with others. To do this, we need one, two or, ! wow! three (blessed if you have three) brothers/sisters who can carefully and sensitively 'wash our feet' (ie help us out in that regard ) Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash [his] feet .... The point is to be His entirely and continually, we all need to have our "feet" washed and continue onward in our journey of Him.

If we really love one another, we will want to do this for one another, we will want to facilitate the washing away of the grime of everyday stuff. In that process, we will be like He was .. we won't care what the established church order of the day would tell us or lead us to believe, how footwashing should or shouldn't be done, what kind of service facilitates footwashing. We will be more in tune with where He is leading us, to be like Him and to do for others and have others do for us. WE will recognize the need to have our feet washed, as much as we would be available and heart-ready to recognize someone else's need to 'wash their feet' as well. * *Notice how if Peter would have relied on the established protocols of his day in regard to footwashing, he would not have been able to have any part of Jesus ... Jesus said if he didn't wash his feet, he would have no part of him. We have got to get beyond what the religious mindset tells us if we want to have the depth of His heart to us and in us...**

I hope this made a little sense :-) I am trying to grasp what His heart is....

Monday, November 26, 2007

How do we depend on God ? It seems everyone has an idea of what this means - but what does it mean in our hearts ?

F. Roberts says "Walk not carelessly, neither lay out thine own paths on which to travel." "Walk closely with me that you may be able to draw on my aid." "Ye need me no matter how well developed is thy faith, nor how mature is thy growth in grace, never think for a moment that ye need My support any less." This is good, the last thought. What I understand Him to be saying is we are not gaining in terms of storing up grace, we are actually becoming more dependant on Him as grace is truly working in us. Grace is not about us gaining anything, but Him gaining in us. In fact grace helps us to look away from ourselves, from what we think we know,from what we think we have gained, understood, realized, to becoming seemingly more aware of Him, how incapable we are to do anything in terms of what He would want to do in a human heart.Roberts says "Move forward with courage and confidence, but always allow Me to walk ahead, and choose the right path for thee."What does it mean to move forward with courage and confidence, yet depend on His grace in that, and not trust in ourselves, ie our own efforts in terms of moving forward? And are we moving forward I mean really? I understand to a certain extent what my soulish religious efforts and rationalizations are, but how do I get turned around to the power of his grace instead always doing it for me? To understand grace, and yet to think one is moving forward, well seems hard to reconcile these two ideas together, for me anyways. It seems to be more about grasping Him and His grace necessary and the completeness is that grace, and if it's complete, we are not really moving forward anywhere ! Yet we are being continually broken and needy, in our desire for Him, which is greater than our desire for recognition in terms of self. The only recognition we really have is recognizing we can do nothing of value in terms of spiritual life, and in this place, ... wanting Him and wanting to know Him. Over and over for me when I try to "do" I must again be broken and softened to Him and I end up wanting Him more and more. So we gain nothing by our efforts and never will. We drift. How does all this get worked out in a broken human heart? I think one way is looking upon others, this helps us to refocus away from self. This seems to be highly significant in terms of value to the human heart. Giving our lives and laying down our lives for another,as a servant, is really about gaining (if that is the correct term) in regards to our heart condition and need to look away from self. Somehow this helps make the necessary adjustments in a human heart such as mine, to get beyond the idea that self is achieving anything. We are wanting to become passionate deeper and deeper in Him, and this is as we grasp what it means to truly gather around His heart for others. This has got to be our heart on a continual basis, or should I say His heart? A continual exchange of our heart for His, for ourselves, for others, for our families. If we have anything of value, it's only because God has given it to us and has worked it out in us. This is something on going, isn't it ? Even this seems fleeting at best. This should be the resonating characteristic of our whole life and the continual attitude within us. To depend on Him entirely and not ourselves, or forbid, another. Grace alone bringing us up into Him, or perhaps I should say bringing us down and Him up. It is an attitude within the heart that looks at everything through the lens of enabling grace from Him. ( And how truly lovely He is ) Which needs to be constant, continual, oh how needy we are, yet how great He is .... great grace upon us all.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

"Be not afraid. I will not allow thine adversaries to swallow thee up. Thou art my child, I shall deliver thee and honor thee, and I shall be glorified through thee."It often seems like we are very close to being swallowed up, doesn't it or is that just me? We are so dependant upon His moment by moment grace upon our hearts. (Lord, keep my heart is often a necessary attitude)"Because of My faithfulness unto thee, even thine enemies will recognize My power."I think we could substitute this "because of My love established in you.." Our hope that the factor drawing another to Christ, is the evidence of the depth of His love in us, .. that others would see that great, great love developed and abiding in our hearts continually. "Hold to My promises. They are given to thee as a chart is given to a ship, and a compass to a hunter. .... they will lead thee and guide thee in places where there is no trodden path. They will give thee direction and wisdom"Christ is the course our ship must stay. In Him is all that we have need of. We find not only strength, but rest in Him. He is the wisdom that came down from above ... We set our course day by day listening to Him and being ministered to by His Spirit. Apart from this day by day impartation and sustaining love, ie grace, we are a ship without a compass. Yes we are a ship, but we are not staying the course designed for that ship. He longs to be our all in all, He is all we truly need.

Religiously speaking, at first glance, after reading this devotion, our first inclination might be that simply the promises are in the Bible. Yes they are - but the point is, we mustn't look at the Bible as a rule book or a promise book, which religion does. The Bible is not a rule book - it is God's heart revealed to us, it's a way to have a heart, ... His heart !

Thursday, November 22, 2007

"O My child, I am coming to thee walking upon the waters of the sorrows of thy life; yea, above the sounds of the storm ye shall hear My voice calling thy name. ye are never alone, for I am at thy right hand. Never despair, for I am watching over and caring for thee. Be not anxious. What seemeth to thee to be at present a difficult situation is all part of My planning, and I am working out the details of circumstances to the end that I may bless thee and reveal myself to thee in a new way. As I have opened thine eyes to see, so shall I open thine ears to hear, and ye shall come to know Me even as did Moses, yea, in a face to face relationship. For I shall remove the veil that separates Me from thee and ye shall know Me as they dearest Friend and as thy truest Comforter. No darkness shall hide the shining of My face, for I shall be to thee as a bright star in the night sky. Never let they faith waver. Reach out thy hand, and thou shalt touch the hem of My garment. "

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

"My child, hear My voice, and give no heed to the voice of the stranger." "I am guiding thee. Ye need not look to man for direction. Ye may learn much by fellowship with the saints, but never allow any to take the part that is rightfully Mine - to direct thy steps. " "Rest in Me, I shall bring to pass My perfect will in thy life as ye believe and live in faith."Pretty straight forward today ! Thank you Lord that you are encouraging us that we can hear your voice and recognize your voice speaking to us as we trust you and learn to lean on you. Thank you for your guidance and perfect will for our lives ! I have found that if we are unsure of His voice or what He is speaking to us, one very helpful directive is to silence alot of the many voices that would try to speak into our lives. Often one of the problems why people cannot discern the Lord's voice is because we are simply so busy listening to other voices, which includes letting other people have that liberty of speaking to us, 'in the name of God'. Sometimes people just take that liberty too, .. you know, to speak for God. Like God always needs their help or something :-) They assume they have our permission, without asking of course, to speak into our lives - an attitude within them that they know God's will and direction for us, and are going to take that position of letting us know pretty darn quickly what it is. Yes, it could be true, ... perhaps they know certain things that we don't yet know, about ourselves or our situation, ..*sigh religious people* .. more often, when we discern or know something significant concerning someone else, .. could what is needed and wanted by the Spirit be to simply pray for that person ?? (which requires self control and the fruit of the Spirit) rather than just taking that liberty to do it for God, and speak to them and "tell" them what we know to be best for them. Yuck. In other words,for all of us, ... be careful to stay in the Spirit. Trust Him to speak and reveal Himself as only He can - to others, as well as to ourselves.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

"Spiritual life shall bring forth that which is spiritual, and likewise carnal flesh shall bring forth only more carnality" which is an "expression of self-righteousness and indifference to the claim of God upon my heart"

Well this is profound. To get to the place where you realize that spiritual life is not a product of religious duties, efforts and strivings. How can we say we are born anew by His Spirit if we still insist on striving for spiritual life? To produce it ... it is not possible. Life only comes from Him ... simple yet profound.

Have you ever tried to courageously challenge religious minded people that they are not capable of producing spiritual life , not in themselves, .. but God forbid, to self righteously demand it in another?

People become very irate at the suggestion that they are not capable of achieving higher and higher levels of spiritual life ... When we know Christ, and long for Him, we actually decrease in our pursuit of strivings and efforts to produce spiritual life , Do you realize that bible colleges and theological institutions do not guarantee spiritual life , they seem to offer it to many, but do not deliver because they cannot impart spiritual life .... Spiritual life is simply a matter of the heart! Not degrees ! Why is this so difficult to grasp to so many ? What liberty in Christ, to acknowledge that there is only One Source of Life and Life more abundantly.., Jesus is capable of imparting spiritual life to a hungry heart. Thank God for that ! He is the One who gives Life, to a willing, opened and often vulnerable needy heart.

Monday, November 19, 2007

"In thy daily walk, you shall only be victorious only to the degree you trust me"

Trusting in Him ... how do we do that, or should I say, is this something we do, is it simply a decision we make? Trust is something that is worked out in our hearts through safe relationship. And the only way to measure it is simply through relationship .

"Overburdened as the world is with trouble, I need those who have proved My sufficiency in everyday, personal experience to lead the suffering to the fountains of life."

Oh what an amazing goal, simple yet profound ... !! How that moves my heart ... !! This is why I love reading Oswald Chambers Daily Devotional - he points out over and over that it's about our day to day manifestation of Christ-likeness, in ordinary day to day circumstances. The profound message of the transforming grace of God has got be evidenced in EVERYDAY ROUTINE LIFE. ie showing the supernatural in just the plain and ordinary. How awesome is that? The world is weary of the spectacular, of the glitter and fame, of the fake and surreal. What the troubled world and the suffering world would like to see, and hopefully be moved by is the fountain of life existing in an ordinary everyday guy or gal....whose just out there, you know, out and about, just ordinary.

"Do not judge a man by what he appears to be, but see him as what he can be if he give himself unreservedly to Me." Things are never what we assume, are they? especially in the spiritual sense. We need to see with His eyes and His heart, past our assumptions. To be inspired by His Holy Spirit, that the vessels He chooses and desires are simply for his Honor and Glory! He decides who, when, how, why, where ... it's simply all about Him!

Sunday, November 18, 2007

"I would speak to thee .... I have an urgent message to speak to thee ... Go not about to establish thine own designs .... I already set in motion my divine will and purpose & I would not have thee interfere "

"Resign all into my hands .. thy loved ones as well as thing OWN SELF"

"Concern thy self first and foremost with spiritual value"

When we have that revelation, we come to realize that it is more important to hear what He has to say than what we have to say. Listening is so important! He already knows our spiritual condition and our neediness. Sometimes it is hard to be honest not only with ourselves, but most importantly with Him, and this because we often find ourselves in a very weakened and broken condition. The organized churchianity has led many to believe the opposite, .. that it isn't always necessary to be vulnerable & honest before God. Maybe it's ok to a certain point, but their thinking is often if we can get everyone busy, things will look after themselves. Nothing could be further from the Truth. The Spirit of God is always searching hearts for truth and vulnerability. Many are led to believe vulnerablity and yielding to the Spirit isn't really necessary, especially if it makes the ones in charge uncomfortable! Therefore rather than risk losing control and allowing this to happen in the hearts of people, avoidance usually comes along, in the form of busy-ness, works, programs, traditions, routines; perhaps we can avoid being vulnverable by hiding behind our fine Sunday clothing; our good appearances; either way, the result is that we avoid "resigning" ourselves to his Spirit's desire and work in our hearts ...

Isn't it wonderful to truly be free, free to be quiet before Him~ ! This knowledge is too wonderful for us! We can be free - and fully resign ourselves to Him, ..completely ~ He is Eternally perfect; His will and His desire for all, for whosoever will, is that we would be free of our human efforts and strivings and instead be courageous and opened up to be honest, vulnerable, yield, surrender to Him. He knows beyond what we think we often know and understand, especially when it comes to what we think we know about ourselves! He alone is God and He is the Way Truth and the Life. He has created us and knows us intimately .. He has framed this whole universe & set it in motion, everything in it ! "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." The word framed means made complete, in other words I understand this to mean, history was determined and even made complete - before the beginning ! What an awesome Father we have ! Truly we can surrender all to Him!

Saturday, November 17, 2007

" ... do not expect thy trials to be lighter than in the past ... "".... why should you think the testings would be less severe ....""I prove all things, and there are areas of thy heart that I have not touched as yet"

God's whole purpose is to unveil the depth of love and the intimacy that He wants us to share with Him. He wants sons and daughters that He can fellowship with, into all eternity. The whole goal and what He is after, is that we might lean on Him, thru our trials, and thru all things that come our way; even as Jacob ended up with a limp, and his posture was forever changed as a result of his wrestling with God, ... with us that our posture would be changed in a spiritual sense. When trials come - that we would develop a deepened dependence on Him (a limp) and this more than we have ever known.This seems to be what He is always after, a heart that only looks at him. And as we look at Him, we continually are changed more and more into His likeness. This seems to me to be wisdom that comes from above, that is pure ..

"This goal transcends every other aim, and any other good that comes out of a pressure period is an added blessing in excess""Seek me above all else". ...

Friday, November 16, 2007

"Oh My Beloved, abide under the shelter of the lattice ... for I have betrothed thee unto Myself, and though ye are sometimes indifferent toward me, My love for thee is at all times as a flame of fire. My ardor never cools, My longing for thy love and affection is deep and constant. "

I have just started reading "Come Away my Beloved".

This is my blog to share the excerpts, and thoughts with you in the hope it will encourage you as well as myself, to a deeper closer walk with Jesus.

This is the first devotion, called, "The Call of Love".

Have you ever thought that His love is calling out to you?

That his love is like a wonderful sheltering lattice?

He has put within us, what is first within His own heart. A longing for a love relationship with Him ... a relationship that is unlike another, one that would be so full of life and love that we would constantly and continually be yielding to it's overflow in our hearts and lives.

There is strength in the knowledge of His love for us.

"I love thee, and if ye can always, as it were, feel My pulse beat, ye shall know many things the knowedge of which shall give thee sustaining strength. ..... Lay thy head upon my breast and lose thyself in me. Thou shall experience resurrection life and peace, the joy of the Lord shall be thy strength; and wells of salvation shall be opened unto thee."

About Me

It is my hope in offering this to you that in the midst of each day's circumstances, whether they be joys or trials, that you & I would together be edified, and receive the ministering Spirit of our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and be enabled to share life, hope, comfort and conviction.